Given the last couple of months' worth of comments from the Red Wings over the past couple of months, never mind the last couple of weeks or days, or taking the team's cap situation and roster crunches into account, it's very evident that Detroit won't be particularly active today, save attempting to re-sign Damien Brunner and Daniel Cleary and attempting to bring in a second line center.

Given the hundreds and hundreds of comments made over the past couple of days, there is an assumption that everything would be different if Jim Nill were in charge instead of Ken Holland.

Such suggestions do not take into account a simple fact: the Detroit Red Wings are not a team whose decisions are solely made by Ken Holland. The Red Wings are run by a management team which consults its pro scouts, its ownership, and yes, its coaches before making major moves, and while Holland has the final say, he is not some lone cowboy going on his gut feeling.

Grabovski, a creative playmaker and good skater who can play center and the wing, is a close friend of Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk, whom he idolizes. They played on the same line for CSKA Moscow during the NHL lockout this season.

The Red Wings will be seeking a second-line center when free agency begins Friday at noon, if, as expected, they're not able to re-sign Valtteri Filppula.

“Do we have Dan Cleary signed, or not signed? Do we have Brunner signed or not signed? Do we have Stephen Weiss signed or not signed? I don’t know,” Holland said. “Are we going to sign someone in the open market or not sign anyone in the open market? We just know that we have to be at 50 contracts or less.”

Sorry to be late with this, but George is sick and I have been trying to conserve some energy, anticipating a big day tomorrow when UFA Day starts...

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

The Red Wings continue talking to Filppula's agent, but it doesn't appear as if he's lowered his asking price of 5-7 years at $5 million or more a season.

Tampa Bay and Columbus might have interest. Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman knows Filppula well from his days in Detroit. Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen also has ties with Filppula, his fellow Finnish native.

If the Red Wings lose Filppula and are unable to land Weiss or Ribeiro, they might offer Cullen a short-term deal (two years). He is 36, but is a decent skater and playmaker and can play all forward positions. But, he has limited offensive ability.

The Red Wings have some interest in right wing Jarome Iginla, who brings many desirable qualities (offense, toughness, leadership), but also raises some concerns (he's 36 and has a lot of mileage). Detroit wasn't on his list of four teams he agreed to waive his no-trade clause to join when Calgary dealt him to Pittsburgh late in the season.

Detroit is not prepared to make huge offers to top free agents David Clarkson (New Jersey) or Nathan Horton (Boston). Clarkson could command a seven-year deal worth more than $5 million per season. Horton reportedly is seeking $6 million or more a season.

Why aren’t the Wings getting any of the bigger names out there? Because they all want too much. Vincent Lecavalier wanted a five-year contract. There were almost a dozen teams interested in him, and all but the Philadelphia Flyers balked at giving a slow-paced 33-year-old that much term. The Wings would have given Lecavalier $4.5 million per if he’d taken a two-year deal. Boston’s Nathan Horton is hotly pursued, but he wants to play someplace warm. New Jersey’s David Clarkson is pushing for a seven-year deal in the $6 million per season range.

Have the Wings lost their appeal as a go-to destination? The Wings are willing to pay when the player is worth it — they just extended Datsyuk for $22.5 million and three years, for example. They didn’t lose out on Ryan Suter or Zach Parise because of money. They would have matched what the Wild gave each player last summer (13 years, $98 million). They lost out on those two because Parise is from Minneapolis and Suter is from Madison, Wisc., and his wife is from Bloomington, Minn. They both opted to play at or near what is home for them. Just like Danny DeKeyser did when he picked the Wings out of all the suitors he had in March. Can’t control geography.

As a newlywed, the last thing Carlo Colaiacovo thought he’d have to do this summer was shop for a new job.

“I got married over the weekend, so it was something that wasn’t even on my mind,” he said. “I’ve been hearing a lot of rumors over the last couple of weeks, but I really didn’t know what to believe because I haven’t heard from anybody of importance.”...

“I came into Detroit last summer because I knew I was a top-four guy that could play in a situation there,” said Colaiacovo, who collected one assist in six regular-season games. “I went through some difficulties last year that I would rather not talk about, but I still believe that I’m a guy who can play top-four on any team. I believe that I’ve proved that through my play, but they have some young guys who they relied upon real hard and some guys that they’re going to lean towards next year. So who knows where I would have fit in there?”

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